Quote:
The news follows up October's report that Boeing will sell India 22 AH-64D Apache attack helicopters, in a deal valued at $1.3 billion. Prior to that deal, the company had also signed on to provide the Indian military with 10 C-17 Globemaster III transportation aircraft. And before that, Boeing won a $2.1 billion deal to supply P-8I subhunting aircraft.

I think the 2008 Mumbai attacks have shaped a lot of India's purchases.

It seems to me that maritime surveillance aircraft and attack helicopters fit into that picture well.

The Chinooks seem to be there to support counter-attacks and other more traditional activities that they had been using the Mil helicopters for, except the Chinooks will be a lot easier to maintain from what I understand.

Quoting bikerthai (Reply 6):I would venture to guess that these Chinooks will see more disaster relief deployments than real life shooting war deployments. These would be great for relief supplies to flooded areas.

High altitude capability will be a determinant of the Chinook's role. What is the effective operational ceiling of the Chinook with a full load ? IA's Dhruv MK3s have a service ceiling of greater than 25000ft, in order to conduct Ladakh and Siachen operations. Dhruv wiki

Quote:The Dhruv is required to fly at high altitudes, a crucial requirement for the Army to operate around the Siachen Glacier and Kashmir region. In September 2007, the Dhruv Mk.3 was cleared for high-altitude flying in the Siachen Sector after six months of trials.[43][44] In October 2007, a Dhruv Mk.3 flew to an altitude of 27,500 feet (8,400 m) ASL in Siachen;[45] two years earlier a HAL Cheetal (the HAL Cheetah powered by the Shakti engine) had set a world altitude record, landing at 25,150 feet (7,670 m) on Sasar Kangi peak in Siachen.[citation needed] An Indian Army report in 2009 criticised the performance of the Dhruv, stating: "The ALH was not able to fly above 5,000m, though the army's requirements stipulated an ability to fly up to 6,500m"; this has been blamed on the TM333 engine, the Army had to continue relying on the older Cheetah/Cheetal helicopters to meet the shortfall.[46] The more powerful Shakti engine has since been introduced on the Dhruv Mk.3; on one test it carried 600 kg load to Sonam Post against the Army's target of 200 kg.[47] The first batch of Dhruv Mk.3's was received by the Indian Army during Aero India 2011.[48]